YULA alum, IDF intelligence veteran, and singer (with original music released on major streaming platforms) Ms. Gabriella Mahboubi joined YULA Girls’s faculty as an English and history teacher this year. She says she learnt about the job through her English teacher Ms. Pam Felcher.
“From when I graduated, I’ve been in really close contact with one of my former English teachers here at YULA, Ms. Felcher,” Ms. Mahboubi said. “Through her, I heard that there was an open position.”
Before coming to YULA, she tutored for a while in Israel and after at LAUSD. Then she worked as a teacher assistant at YULA—Boys Division last year before becoming a full-time teacher.
Ms. Mahboubi grew up in L.A. and went to Sinai Akiba Academy for elementary school. She then went to Yavneh for middle school, followed by YULA—Girls Division. She described her experience at YULA as very meaningful and something that really helped shape who she is today. In addition, her favorite subject has always been English.
“I would say that I was a social butterfly,” said Ms. Mahboubi about her time as a YULA student, “so I don’t feel like I fit in necessarily to one specific group, but I did form a lot of meaningful friendships. I was a really hardworking student. I invested a lot of time and effort in my studies, I was very ambitious.”
She is the oldest of seven and comes from a Persian family. Her mother was a Machshava teacher at Harkham Gaon, and two of her sisters teach at Sephardic Temple. Another one of her sisters is a sensei who teaches karate and is learning jiu jitsu.
“When I was younger, I definitely had a premonition that I would be a teacher, but I ended up pursuing many different things and many different interests before I decided to pursue a career as a teacher,” said Ms. Mahboubi.
Ms. Mahboubi served in the IDF for two years in the intelligence unit. She described her experience saying, “The rigidity of the military mindset is definitely not for me, but I’m so happy I had that experience.”
She also pursued music and produced two songs, “Think of Me” (which was released in 2024) and “Comes in Kindness” (which was released in 2023) and she has eleven monthly listeners and around 26 streams on big platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Youtube.
Ms. Mahboubi said she feels welcomed by the staff at YULA and is thrilled to be teaching the subjects she loves. She added that working with students and helping them grow is a real responsibility and something she’s very grateful for. One thing that always brings a smile to her face, she said, is her students’ sense of humor. She’s excited to build relationships with her students and see how the year develops, describing it as “a process we’re all going through together.”
